Ice by Any Other Name

For 62 winters, the mighty Icebreaker Mackinaw sliced its way through the frozen Great Lakes so shipping could continue despite seemingly impenetrable waters. The original Mackinaw was decommissioned in 2006, but not before writer Sandy Planisek had the opportunity to document life onboard. Among the fascinating factoids she found: The crew had names for different ice, determined by the clatter of it against the hull. “It was incredibly noisy – from tinkly sounds to feeling like you were in a washing machine with rocks going around,” Planisek says. The ice names themselves were so vividly frigid that we just had to share:

Glass: Thin and crackly icePancake: Flat, round ice chunksMashed potato: Flaky ice; mushes up in pilesMargarita: Small, crunchy bits of iceSaran: Very thin iceBlue ice: Deep and solid; clear on top and dark way down below.